Rose's Thorns
by notan8footpython
Summary: Rose's emotional state has crashed, leaving her a hollow shell of her former self. Torchwood was forced to fire her after a stupid mistake led to the death of her entire squadron in a recon mission to the Dalek's mothership. She began a downward spiral with pit stops at mental hospitals and emergency rooms, and has finally hit rock bottom at Mayberry's State Hospital. TW inside
1. Chapter 1 - The Doctor Will See You Now

TW for depression, mental illnesses, possible self harm and eating disorders, etc.

I don't own Doctor Who (and if I did, Matt Smith would still be the Doctor) so yeah

Rose stares at the uniform white walls of my room, dirty with the oils from the many fingers and bodies that occupied this cell before her. She wonders for the umpteenth time if she could die if she hit her head hard enough on it. _Of course_ , she thinks to herself wryly, _I'm sure others have tried. Do I really want to be one of the masses?_

A knock raps sharply on her door, interrupting her musings. The door opens immediately later, and Miss Tera, her least favorite nurse, stuck her head in.

"The doctor will see you now, Rosemary," she says, rather dazedly.

Rose, momentarily irked by the use of her full name, gets up rather reluctantly; she had been enjoying imaging her demise, something that she did too often to be normal, but not often enough to be alarmed by it.

As Rose follows Tera down the hall, she looks up at the ceiling and counts the drywall panels that it consists of, skipping the one with water damage; that was the unlucky one.

"Which doctor will be seeing me just now?" she asks, realizing the abnormalcy of the lack that particular bit of knowledge.

"Oh...I don't quite know, love, he just said he was 'The Doctor', not sure which one..." Tera trails off, still in that uncharacteristic dazed tone of voice.

Rose's heart leaps into her throat, rib cage expanding and lungs filling so fast it hurt. Her breath catches, and she jars to a halt. _No, it couldn't be, he's too far, he doesn't know where I am, he can't see me like this..._

She forces herself to keep moving, jogging a little to keep up with Miss Tera, who hasn't stopped walking. She manages, although with great difficulty, to continue breathing and keep her pace steady, fighting the urge to sprint down the hall and rattle the locked doors, demanding to see her Doctor, screaming to see his face...

After what seems to be a century, Tera unlocks the final door and directs Rose to Dr. Karwinsky's office, which is empty, as he is the weekend doctor. Rose wrenches open the door, flies into the room, her heart beating an arrhythmic tattoo into her chest, and with tears in her eyes, she sees her beloved Doctor sitting in an office chair behind the desk, his red Converses up on the wood and a smirk on his beautiful face.

"Hello. I'm the Doctor."

Rose throws herself over the desk and buries her face into the Doctor's blue suit, tears coming hot and fast.

"Doctor, Doctor, Doctor, Doctor, Doctor..." She sobs into him, clutching to him as if he were the only thing anchoring her to this world. She held onto him like she should have all those years ago...

The Doctor squeezes onto her, almost painfully hard, silent contractions of grief ripping through him. They finally break apart, and Rose draws a shaky breath, half-laugh and half-sob, and leans in to kiss him.

Before she can get any closer, the Doctor gently stops her.

"Not here," he says, "not now. I want it to be real."

"What?" Rose says, voice trembling. "This is real, what do you-"

"Shh. I'll explain later, but right now you have to remember how you feel right here, right now. No matter what they do or say to you, remember me now. Promise me this, Rose, promise me this one thing. Remember."

Rose looks at him, confused and with a terrible sense of dread settling around her stomach like a lead weight.

"Doctor, you have come for me, right? You said you'd always be here, and you left. But you came back, you're back now, you're back, right, Doctor, you came back for me, right? Doctor!" Rose realizes she's screaming now at the empty chair the Doctor was so recently occupying. Or was he? She's had this dream so many times, but it seems so real now, why has he gone, why did he leave her again, _why why why why whywhywhywhywhywh_ _ **ywhyWHYYYYYYYYYYY**_

Rose is screaming at the top of her lungs as orderlies seize her and fasten her to the restraining bed, strapping down the chest, wrist, leg, thigh, and forehead belts as she writhes and shrieks, screaming "DOCTOR" at the ceiling as she is wheeled down the hall and into a quiet room. She hasn't stopped screaming as they slide a needle into her vein, and she hasn't stopped screaming as she sees the white-clad form of Miss Tera looking down at her, and her screams fade into moans, then into whimpers, then into silence as the world turns dark.

Rose looks up at the drywall tiles above her, blinking back sleep. For a moment she thinks she is back in her bed, in her cell, but as she tried, and fails, to sit up, the events of last night come screeching into memory.

She snaps into full consciousness, fully aware and alert of her surroundings. She draws in breath, preparing to scream again, but then she sees Dr. Stone at the tiny window in the door.

He enters the room, clipboard in hand, and sits on the padded shelf-bed thing on the far side of the small cell.

"Hello Rosemary," he says in his annoyingly pleasant Canadian accent. "It's been a while since we've had one of these episodes, innit?"

Suddenly feeling completely and totally drained, Rose closes her eyes and merely nods.

Dr. Stone says in what Rose perceived as an attempted understanding tone, "So this Doctor character, was he here last night? I mean," he hastily added, remembering she was supposedly insane, "did you see him?"

Even though she felt his question was unworthy of a respectful and truthful reply, she grits her teeth and says yes.

She hears Stone make a mark on his clipboard.

"And are you aware that no one else saw him, including Miss Tera, who was standing in the same room as you and this, ah, Doctor fellow?"

Eyes still closed, teeth still clenched, she spits out another yes.

"Okay then." Dr. Stone says, followed by another scratch of his pen. "Miss Tyler, you do know that I'm going to have to put you on One-to-One supervision again, right?"

Rose doesn't dignify his question-statement with an answer.

"Right?" he says more forcefully.

"Abso-fucking-lutely" Rose says very carefully and very steadily.

Another mark.

"Okay, Rose, I'm going to unrestrain you, okay?" Dr. Stone says, slowly standing up. "All right, Rose?"

Rose nods, trying not to cry.

Stone notices as he's untying her. "Rose, there's no reason to be upset. This is just another little setback on your road to recovery. We'll get you on another antipsychotic, you'll talk it over with Iris, and we'll move past it, all right?"

Rose nods, tears of frustration sliding past her closed eyelids and down her flushed cheeks. _He just doesn't understand_ , she thinks, n _o drug can fix me, no amount of therapy or letting go can make me forget him, nothing can fill this hole that he left behind, not Mickey, not Mum, not anyone. Not that it matters, they're all dead anyway..._

Rose is silent as she follows one of the staff member down to her room. She catches a glimpse of one of the few clocks at the hospital and sees that it's past 2 am. _How long have I been out...?_

She turns down the hall, throwing a dirty look at the faces peering out at her from their rooms.

As she lies down on her foam mattress and thin sheets, she gives one last glance at her supervising night nurse, and turns towards the wall and curls into the fetal position and tries, vainly, to sleep.

Just as she's slipping into what's sure to be a troubled sleep, she is jarred awake by a familiar voice speaking through thick static in her ear.

She sits up suddenly, attracting alarm from her nurse, trying to decipher what is being said through the heavy buzzing in her head.

"Rose-I-stay calm-coming-you-wait-remem-got to-ROSE" She hears her name shouted again, loudly and with a note of panic that made her flinch. She'd heard voices before, many of which were the Doctor's, but this was different, this was REAL, but why couldn't she hear him, why, what?

She pressed her hands to her temples, trying to make out his words, but as the Doctor's voice grew more distorted and panicked, her pulse skyrocketed and her breathing came fast and uneven, she started shouting "Doctor, Doctor, I'm here, I can't hear you, please talk to me, DOCTOR!"

She vaguely heard her nurse calling for backup, but all she could concentrate on was the Doctor's voice, and as she felt hands on her arms pulling her back, she didn't even fight, she just had to figure out what he was trying to tell her, if she could just...

She felt the all too familiar sensation of a needle slipping into the flesh of her thigh, and with her last shreds of consciousness, she hears his voice. As load and clear as if he were right there on the floor, fading away with her, he says,

"Rose, I'm coming. Remember me!"

Then, for the second time that night (or had it been longer?), darkness overtook her and, this time, left her with a smile on her tearstained face. She knows what comes next.


	2. Chapter 2 - Not Quite Saved

A/N: this takes place in Pete's World, just to clarify :)

 _Rose_

Rose woke up again, in the same room she was in not 24 hours before. Or had it been longer? She couldn't tell; there were no windows in her cell, save for the aperture in the door behind her.

Rose closes her eyes and feels tears slide down her face once more. The Doctor had plagued her dreams before; she could have sworn she saw him sitting with his feet up on a coffee table not two weeks ago. She had heard his voice, too, but never that clearly. Last night was real, she knows it.

She hears the familiar click of the electric lock behind her, and steels herself for another firm chastising, perhaps a warning of solitary confinement for good measure.

As predicted, Dr. Stone comes in the room and sits upon the foam mattress opposite her.

"Rose, Rose, Rose, Rose," he says sadly, looking at her as if she were a badly cracked porcelain doll.

Rose's tears seem to dry up from the heat radiating from her face. She was angry now.

"Stone," she spits (she had refused to call him Doctor since day one), "I don't need your pity. I'm not a broken toy, nor am I a rabid beast! I am not insane, everything I've told you is true, just ask Torchwood, just talk to Captain Harkness, please talk to them, I'm not crazy!"

The tears are back now; she's struggling to keep them at bay.

Stone keeps the look of pity on his face, but it is coupled with frustration.

"Rosemary," -Rose flinches at the use of her real name- "we have looked into your claims, Torchwood doesn't exist, there are no records of Daleks or crying angels or metal men or anything like what you've described. You didn't even exist yourself until a month before you were first checked in to a hospital. Officially speaking, of course," he adds with a hollow chuckle. Rose is in complete distress, her face twisting with the effort of keeping the tears back.

"That's-because-he-erased-himself!" She chokes, "He didn't want-he didn't want-us to be in d-danger."

Dr. Stone gives her another sad smile. "Well, he didn't do a very good job now, did he?"

This is too much for poor Rose Tyler. She breaks down and starts crying, her silent sobs wracking her small body, which was thin from stress and malnourishment. All she wants to do is curl up in a ball and die, but even this small wish is denied by the straps and buckles holding her limbs in place.

 _Doctor_

"GodDAMMIT, Richard!" The Doctor shouts, beating the TARDIS console with his fist, sending sparks shooting into the air. "You said she would be safe. You said she'd be happy!"

The man he was currently raging at sat on one of the makeshift seats strapped to the guard rail of the control platform. He was a tall, regal black man whose glasses sat on the tip of his nose. That combined with his hands placed under his chin in a steepled position gave him an air of intelligence and superiority.

"Yes, Doctor," he says with the attitude of speaking to a small, thick-headed child, "I said she would be safe, but never did I say happy. She's in a mental hospital, for God's sake!"

"I know, but you'd think we'd be able to find a way to get her out after 4 bloody months!" The Doctor yells back. "Just tell me we are a bit closer, just a bit, to finding a tear large enough to fit through to her universe."

Richard sighs, lowering his hands and looking at them clasped in his lap. "Yes, we are. But don't get your hopes up," he adds, noticing the Doctor's features lighting up, "it's still going to take time. It's one thing to get a few words into an experienced time-traveller's head, it's a completely different feat getting an entire TARDIS through a theoretical gap the size of a twenty-pence coin!"

The Doctor runs his hands through his spiky hair and sighs irritably and frustratedly. "Jesus Christ, Richard, do you think she even still wants to see me?"

Richard's gaze snaps up, a fire burning in his dark eyes. "Doctor, I'm not going to play this game with you."

"I'm not playing a bloody _game_ , Richard-"

"Yes, you are! You're playing the 'Let's feel sorry for Doctor' game, you ask self-deprecating questions that we both full well know the answer to, and when I give you the answer you're looking for, be it truthful or complete bullshit, you either stalk off in a mood or you sigh forlornly and wallow in self-pity!"

The Doctor is taken aback by the sheer bluntness of Richard's words. He finds his voice before Richard can continue chastising him.

"Yeah, but did you hear what she was screaming? She was asking me why, why did I leave her, why am I torturing her with my presence, WHY haven't I come back for her!"

"And you can tell her when you find her again." Richard says with a finality. "But until then, you will just have to tell her to remember you. It's all she can do. It's rather a lot to do, actually, considering what they're going to do to her..."

"I know." The Doctor says, burying his head in his hands. "I know."


	3. Chapter 3-Why Does the Caged Rose Sing?

**_Rose_**

Rose is laying on her foam bed with the sheets twisted messily around her ankles. She is supposed to be dressed and had her bed made by now, but really, what can they do to her that she has not already done to herself?

 _Alouette, gentille Alouette_

 _Alouette je te plumerai_

 _Alouette, gentille Alouette_

 _Je te plumerai la tete_

 _Je te plumerai la tete..._

She finds herself softly humming the familiar tune, and for some reason, it brings tears to her eyes.

 _I'm a fucking nutcase_ , she thinks, laughing in a way which did not exactly prove herself wrong.

Suddenly, the static fizzles in her brain once more. She bolts upright and begins shaking almost immediately.

 _Oh God, please no, not again, they already think I'm insane, please Doctor, just let me rest for a bloody_ day!

But it was not the Doctor's voice which was penetrating her skull this time. It was a woman, singing.

But something was terribly wrong. Her voice was high and made her blood chill in her veins, laced with insanity and darkness.

 _"Alouette, gentille Alouette_

 _Alouette je te plumerai_

 _Alouette, gentille Alouette_

 _Je te plumerai la tete_

 _Je te plumerai la tete..."_

Rose sits very still and listens very hard to the voice in her head, which rang out in her mind, blocking out every other sound that might present itself.

 _"...Je te plumerai le nez_

 _Je te plumerai le nez_

 _Et le nez, et le nez_

 _Et le nez, et le nez..."_

The voice recites all of the verses, growing louder with each note, until on the last _"o-o-o-oh!_ " Rose feels her head will burst. The woman's insane singing cuts off abruptly, and the silence and ringing that follows is almost worse than the song itself.

Rose hasn't moved at all, save for the tightening of her hands in her sheets and the clenching of her jaw as she fights to stay calm. She can't afford to have another...episode...

Thankfully, her supervising nurse, Miss Freddie, never once looked up from her paperwork during Rose's turmoil.

Rose lets out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding, and slowly, painfully, unclenches her teeth and fists, and stood.

Robotically, she makes her bed and walks out of her room and into the dayroom. Her breakfast is sitting on one of the back tables, as she was not allowed into the cafeteria with the rest of the patients.

She sits and mechanically begins to eat her rubbery eggs and cold bacon. Thoughts are running through her mind faster than she can process each individual one, images and scenarios and words flashing into her minds eye and then back out.

 _Was it the Doctor?_

 _Was he trying to tell me something?_

 _Is he okay?_

 _Did I just imagine it?_

 _Am I insane?_

 _Will it happen again?_

Rose grits her teeth and attempts to swallow her thoughts as she swallows her breakfast. She can't afford to lose it. Not when the Doctor could be so close. Not now. She must. Stay. Calm.

And she must remember.

 ** _Doctor_**

"Richard."

The Doctor is using his I-am-about-to-flippin-lose-it-but-you're-more-useful-to-me-calm voice.

The violet-robed man looks up at him, smiling amiably. "Yes, Doctor?"

"Please explain to me why Rose is hearing Layla in her mind."

"Ah, Doctor, always one to question things, aren't we?" Richard has a relaxed, slightly dreamy look to him.

"Richard. Tell me why." The Doctor is visibly struggling to maintain his cool; Richard would only cooperate if he felt he had the upper hand.

"Well, in short, we are reaching her dimension by anchoring the TARDIS to her mind, which as you know is a very strenuous ordeal-"

"No, you imbecile, I know why she is hearing voices, I want to know why Layla, who is supposedly dead, is singing bloody nursery rhymes into my Rose's head!" The Doctor is shaking with rage, anger coloring his features a brilliant shade of pink.

Richard tut-tut-tuts and shakes his head. "Doctor, no matter how much this irks you, you simply cannot control everything! We are literally anchoring a spaceship onto the mind of a 24 year old girl, we are tearing her apart, surely something is going to get in sooner or later!"

The Doctor collapses into a chair, head in his hands. He doesn't say anything for a long time.

When he finally does speak, his voice is hoarse with worry.

"How close are we to finding her?"

Richard sighs, looking at the Doctor with what seemed like real sympathy and saying, "I don't know, Doctor. We just have to wait and see."

The Doctor sighs rather shakily, and retreats to his room before anyone can witness the breaking of an old man's heart.


	4. Chapter 4 - Time

**A/N: Hey guys, sorry about abandoning this fic, not very many people have read it and so I figured why keep trying when the audience isn't there lol. I have recently decided to continue it, and I hope you guys like it.**

 **Also, there has been some confusion with this fic: this is not a sequel, any names that you don't recognize are my OCs and you're supposed to not know what's happening. It's a suspense book. Enjoy!**

 **-Hannah**

 _Rose_

Time is a funny thing. It passes whether or not you want it to, heedless of whether or not you are ready for it. 

This occurs to Rose as she exits the cafeteria with the other patients, the sticky pads on their sock-clad feet making an annoying sound on the tile floor. 

It's been a week and two days since she first heard the voice singing in her head, and she's off of 24/7 supervision, but even the normal hospital routine is jarring and stressful now that she knows the Doctor might be close. 

At every corner she hopes she might bump into a skinny man in a brown trench coat, but sadly, the only men in the hospital complex wore white scrubs and had plastic clipboards in their hands. Either that, or they were literally insane. 

All Rose can do is wait, and remember. 

_Whatever the hell_ that _means_.

***

 _Doctor_

Sparks fly from the TARDIS console as the Doctor frantically tries to stop the screeching alarms and flashing lights issuing from various speakers and light bulbs on the walls. Meanwhile, the dark man in the bucket seats strapped to the guardrail does nothing. 

Cursing, the Doctor finally silences the wails of the alarms and a few lone sparks shoot from the console and die quickly. 

"What. Was that." The Doctor demands, "I let you take over for five minutes-five minutes-on autopilot, and we nearly die. The hell, Richard?!" 

Richard gives a sigh like that of a mother with waning patience. He waits a while before standing up and walking to one of the interior rooms of the TARDIS. The Doctor throws up his hands in frustration and runs his fingers through his hair, cursing Richard and his future generations. 

Sighing, he busies his hands with the levers and buttons, and tries again.

***

 _Rose_

"Rosemary? Rosemary Tyler?" 

Rose opens her eyes to a pretty young nurse she hasn't seen before standing in her doorway. "Yes?" 

"Um, the doctor, I don't know his name, I'm new, sorry, um..." She trails off and bites her lip. _Noob_. 

Having resigned herself to the fact that it was, most likely, not _the_ Doctor, she nods and gets up from her bed. 

She walks with the nurse down the halls-not even bothering to count the ceiling tiles anymore-with Rose leading the nurse through the warren of the hospital more than the nurse leading her. The silence is awkward, mostly because the new nurse (Miss Shona, Rose gathers from her ID) tries to initiate small talk as they proceed deeper into the hospital, when the usual protocol is not to engage the patients. 

"So, Rosemary-" she begins, 

"It's Rose." Rose corrects her. 

"Oh, okay, Rose, how long-how long have you been here?" 

"Five months, three weeks, six days, and 7 hours," Rose recites. "Not that I've been counting, or anything." 

Miss Shona looks taken aback, "My, my...you really count the hours?" 

Rose deadpans, "Yep. Not much else to do." 

Miss Shona looks disgruntled and says nothing. 

Rose laughs to herself, amused at how easy it was to mess with the new nurses. She didn't do it to be difficult, or to be rebellious, she just did it because it's fun. What are they gonna do to her? Send her to her room? Make her go to bed without dinner? Rose chuckles again, the first real sound of happiness she's had in awhile. 

"Something funny I've missed?" Miss Shona asks, slightly concerned at Rose's unexplained laughter. 

"No, ma'am. Just have to get my laughs when I can. I don't actually count the hours, miss. I'm only saying that to mess with you," Rose laughs again,

surprised at how easily her stone face cracked into a grin again. Something about this nurse just made her happy. 

Miss Shona laughs with her, shaking her head. "You know, Rose, the doctor told me you were something else, but you're a right laugh! What did you do to end up here?" 

Rose's face morphs back to stone again. "Haven't you read my file, miss?" she asks cooly. 

"Oh, well, yes, but, I find that what the doctor puts down isn't necessarily what happened," Miss Shona says easily, seemingly immune to Rose's icy tone. 

Rose thinks on this a minute. She's seen glimpses of her diagnosis sheet (something about axises and schizophrenia) and it all seems very clinical, not personal at all. 

Rose hesitates, then says  
"I'm here because everything I remember is a lie." 

Miss Shona nods, signaling her to go on. They've stopped outside Karwinzky's office and Miss Shona has turned to face Rose head on. Rose decides then that Miss Shona is very pretty. 

"When I was 19, I met a man called the Doctor. He wasn't from Earth. He had a machine called the TARDIS and it could go anywhere in time or space. I ran away with him, and together we saved this world and so many others hundreds of times. Then something happened, and we were separated. It was okay though, because I joined an organization called Torchwood. They do the kind of thing the Doctor and I do: keep Earth safe." 

"From what, exactly?" Miss Shona probes. 

Rose sighed and closed her eyes, knowing full well how crazy she sounded, "Aliens. Monsters and aliens." 

Miss Shona nods says nothing, promoting Rose to continue. 

Rose takes a deep breath and starts again,

"But when I was at Torchwood, on a simple recon mission, I made a stupid mistake. Stupid. I got my entire unit killed. My best mate, Mickey Smith. Martha Jones. Everyone but me. Naturally, I was dishonorably discharged, and they were supposed to wipe my memories since Torchwood is not even supposed to exist, but it just didn't take. I started remembering bits and pieces a few months ago, which landed me in a psych ward, but I remember almost all of it now," Rose sighs again, tears filling her eyes once more. The memory is painful even half a year later. "My mum...she was no longer under Torchwood's protection. It wasn't long before something got her." 

"What was it?" Miss Shona asks. 

Rose laughs mirthlessly, "A Weeping Angel. One touch and they zap you back in time, and feed off your potential. They have kind of a sick sense of humor, though, they usually time it just so that they die of old age around the time they were taken, so whoever they were with has to watch them die. That's not something you get over quickly..." Rose adds softly. 

"No, no it's not," Miss Shona agrees, equally as soft. 

Rose looks up in disbelief, "You actually believe me? Everyone else wrote me off as 'crazy' as soon as I mentioned time travel." 

Miss Shona nods, "I believe that you believe it. So it really doesn't matter if it happened or not, because it was real for you, and that means it's as valid as any other event." 

For the second time in that conversation, Rose has to stop and think about what Miss Shona says. She supposed she was right. _You can't discount what someone else feels, just because you don't feel it too, or at the same magnitude as them. Everyone is living in their own personal hell.  
_

"Exactly," Miss Shona says, smiling a little. 

Rose hadn't realized she had said it out loud, but she was glad she did. She smiles back. 

"Come on now, let's get you to see Karwinzky before he loses his shit." Miss Shona says, laughing. 

Rose nods and smiles. Finally, an ally. 


	5. Chapter 5 - Home

**A/N:**

 **Hey guys, I'm sorry I abandoned this fic for so long! I had some really great ideas but no one really took interest in it so I stopped. I would like to get it back up again; I finished one of my books and nature hates a vacuum so here we are xD enjoy!**

 **-Hannah**

 _Doctor_

"I think we've got it!"

The Doctor grins, his face lighting up like a Christmas tree. The man across from him says nothing, but allows himself a ghost of a smile. Almost a year later, and they've finally figured it out.

Sort of.

"Now, you're sure this is going to work, right?" The Doctor says uneasily, once again realizing the magnitude of the situation. What they were going to do was either going to get them all killed, or save the human he loves.

Richard rolls his eyes, sighing. "Nothing is ever certain, Doctor, but the odds are fairly good and providing you don't royally screw us, I think we've got a shot."

"Oh gee Richard, thanks for the vote of support, I'll be sure to keep your kind words in my hearts," the Doctor says sarcastically, practically counting the minutes until he didn't have to deal with the pretentious bastard anymore. "Can we get back to saving my friend, please? I don't want us to have to be together any longer than necessary."

Richard chuckles knowingly, "A friend, Doctor? You're tearing up space and time and possibly your own mind for a friend? I wish I had friends that devoted to me."

"That's because you don't have friends, Richard. Can we not do this here, please? Focus on getting my FRIEND back, thanks." The Doctor says scathingly, far too fed up with the man to filter his frustrations.

Richard smiles, never losing his composure, "Attitude like that is going to get you nowhere fast, dear Doctor."

The Doctor has to literally bite his tongue to prevent the string of obscenities he had in mind. "Okay. We'll do it your way. Now let's get a move one for cripes sake."

"As you wish, Doctor."

***

 _Rose_

She was having such a good day.

No breakdowns for the last six months, her hallucinating was minimal and she was able to cope when she had them, she'd managed to level up and was finally allowed to have her art supplies back, and she was fairly confident that one day soon she could leave with a clean bill of health. What she'd do afterwards she hadn't the foggiest, but she could taste the sweet flavour of freedom not far away.

And then the hallucinations came back.

It was about 2:30am, and she was actually sleeping well and her dreams of the Doctor and monsters and aliens and angels and demons were few and far between. Yes, she did miss her Doctor and would give anything for him back, but she knew that focusing on him now would do her no good. She needed to leave here so she could properly look for him.

Rose was dreaming of her mother. Nice dreams, safe dreams, dreams that made her feel warm and loved.

Static hisses in her dream world, momentarily fuzzing out her mothers face. Somewhere in the back of her head she starts to panic. Even in her dreams, she was terrified of the sounds that the static preceded. Her fear wakes her up, and that's when the voices wake as well.

 _"Rose!"  
_  
Oh god.  
 _  
"Rose Tyler!"  
_  
Oh no _.  
_  
 _"Can you hear me?"  
_  
Please, no.

Rose sits up, pinching the insides of her wrists and thighs, trying to focus on the pain and not on the voices. It worked before, with the insane high pitched singing she would sometimes get, but if anything, these voices grew louder.

 _"Goddammit, Richard, what the hell are you good for-never mind. Rose! For God's sake answer me, I've got less than a minute window and I need you to let me know you can hear me so I know where to land."_

Tears were streaming down her face. God, she was so close, so fucking close to recovery. She can't lose it now, not when she has made it so far.

But what if it was real? It sounded like her was right beside her, as if she could open her eyes and see him standing next to her bed. Could she really risk seeing her Doctor again just for the sake of her sanity?

 _"Alright Richard, it doesn't seem to be working, try again maybe? Don't give me that, help me you twat. Rose, seriously, if you don't answer me I don't know if I'll be able to get back again. Do you hear me? Ah, bollocks, she's not there. Richard-"_

"No, I'm here," Rose whispers, her voice cracking with tears. "I'm here, I'm here. Don't leave me, please don't..."

 _"Rose Tyler, am I glad to hear you!"  
_  
The familiar voice brings tears to her eyes and joy to her soul. He finally found her! He finally came back for her!

"Doctor, are you real? Is this real? Please, tell me it's real." Rose whispers as quietly as she can, for fear of attracting unwanted attention from the night nurses.

 _"You can bet your life on it! Richard, we got her, let's go, quickly, we haven't got much ti-"  
_  
His voice cuts out sharply, taking the static with it. Rose is on the brink of panic, doing everything in her power to stay relatively calm. Soon, she hears something she never thought she'd hear again.

The TARDIS.

Rose jumped to her feet, emotion soaring through her as she watched the blessed blue box materialize in front of her.

The door creaks open, and there he is.

Her Doctor.

Rose hurdles her bed and smothers the Doctor in a hug, her arms squeezing his skinny frame so tightly he spluttered a bit.

"Sorry," Rose smiles through her tears, slackening her grip. She goes in for a desperate kiss when the Doctor pushes her back slightly, his gaze focused on something above her left shoulder.

"Rose..." The Doctor said, tightening his grip on her arms and putting himself in front of her, "Get in the TARDIS, and don't come out, okay?"

"What, why?" Rose asks, turning slightly, but the Doctor grips her shoulders tight and marches her into the blue box.

"Doctor, you really think that's gonna work on me? I've got you back again, there's no way in hell I'm leaving." Rose scoffs, shaking the Time Lord off her, and he sighs at her perpetual hunger for danger.

Rose turns to see a line of figures silhouetted against the light from the hallway. As her vision sharpens, the figures focus into several of the night nurses and her main doctor, Dr. Karwinsky. It was eerie, watching them stand so still and yet seem so ominous.

"Where are you going, Rose Tyler?" Dr. Karwinsky says calmly, his presence emanating darkness.

Rose begins to shake, hating herself for how weak she has become. It only took a year and a half in this place to break her almost completely.

But the Doctor was here. Her Doctor. For real this time. She can do anything with him by her side.

"I'm going home. With him." Rose says defiantly, some of the fire in her eyes rekindling.

"Oh, but we had such fun things planned for you!" Dr. Stone exclaims, his skin tight and stretched over his sharp cheekbones and strong jawline.

Rose notices that the Doctor is slowly inching her into the doorway of the TARDIS. She tries to pull free, but he tightens his grip and whispers fiercely into her ear,

"Not now, Rose, not now. I need you safe, I need you home, I need you with me, and that can't happen if we don't get the hell out of here. Rose, for once, listen!"

Rose nods, eyes still on the line of figures. They haven't moved from their spots. Rose whirls around and bolts into the TARDIS, the Doctor close behind. She looks out the window while the Doctor flips switches and mutters under his breath.

The staff has not moved.

"Doctor..." Rose says warily, "They haven't moved."

"What? Then what are they doing?" He says, briefly looking up.

"Just...standing. Watching."

"Well, that's...odd. But who the hell cares, we're off!" The Doctor proclaims, the TARDIS whirring to life, a sound that brought tears to Rose's eyes. She never thought she would hear that sound again. Sure, she had always hoped, but...deep down inside, she knew she would never see him again. She had never been more happy to be proven wrong.

Rose turns around, beaming at the Doctor as she squeals and jumps into his arms.

"God, Doctor...I missed you so much," she cries, "thank you for coming back to me."

The Doctor said nothing, only kissing her on her browning blonde hair with tears in his eyes.

"Well, that was very touching, but there is the matter of payment we need to address." A loud voice echoes around the console room, making Rose jump back from the Doctor.

Richard smiles thinly, clasping his hands.

"Who the hell is that?" Rose asks, confused and slightly wary. She could tell this man wasn't not one to be trifled with

"That is Richard," the Doctor said, "and he is the one who helped me get you back. But he's not going to stick around any longer, are you, Richard?"

The man nods, his regal ebony face stretching into a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "Of course, Doctor. But, as I said, I need my payment. You know that I'm not one for charity."

The Doctor sighs, retrieving a small penknife from deep within his pockets. He presses the blade to his inner wrist, sending a shot of alarm through Rose's system.

"Doctor, what are you doing-" Rose begins.

"Not you. Her." Richard interrupts.

The Doctor looks up sharply, pulling the knife from his wrist, a small scratch left on his skin from the edge of the knife

"What?"

"You heard me. Not you. Her. I want her blood, not yours." Richard says.

"What? Why? Mine is far more valuable than hers; do you know what you can get for Time Lord blood on the black market? I'm the last one, in case you forgot. She's human. You can find them anywhere. Leave her alone." The Doctor says, stepping slightly in front of Rose.

Rose feels slightly put out at being called common, but she knows the Doctor is trying to protect her.

"I'm not interested in money, Doctor, you know that," Richard says in an amused tone. "I'm interested in value. Yes, Time Lord blood is incredibly rare, but the blood of the one he loves...that's much, much more valuable. And let's not forget I'm the one who helped you, I can hurt you just as easily." He added with a dark look at Rose.

The Doctor opens his mouth to argue, but Rose gently placed her hand on his skinny arm.

"It's fine, Doctor. He can have some. I have plenty."

"No, Rose, no. You don't know what he's going to do with it, you don't know how dangerous it is to give blood to the wrong hands."

"Well, I kind of have to, he's the one who helped you save me," Rose says softly, taking the penknife from his hands, "plus, I'm kind of used to it."

She takes the penknife and quickly rips it across her flesh, blood welling to the surface. The Doctor sees the other scars on her wrists, and sorrow floods his being.

"Ah, yes. Thank you, dear Rose Tyler." Richard says, pulling a glowing blue vial from his purple robe, holding the lip to the cut as blood pours in, filling the vial to the top. Richard puts a glass stopper in the vial, and a metal armour appears to encase it.

"Don't mention it." Rose says, smiling through a wince as the Doctor puts pressure on the cut.

"That was rather deep, Rose, I don't think that was necessary." The Doctor says softly, pulling a blue handkerchief from his pocket and wrapping her wrist.

"As I said, I'm used to it." Rose says, smiling sadly.

She looks over the Doctor's shoulder, and the man is gone. 


End file.
